Apparatus for winding sheet material at constant surface speed and at constant tension



Feb. 18, 1958 DOURDEVILLE 2,823,872

APPARATUS FQR WINDING SHEET MATERIAL AT CONSTANT SURFACE SPEED AND AT CONSTANT TENSION Filed May 20, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet l LNVEVTOR. THEODORE A. DOUROEViLLE.

ZMW

T. A. DOURDEVILLE INDING SURFACE SPEED AND AT CONSTANT TENSION Feb". 18, 1958 2,823,872

APPARATUS FOR W SHEET MATERIAL AT CONSTANT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 20,

INVENTOR.

THEODORE A. DOURDEVILLE. BY 42W. WW

United States Patent P APPARATUS FOR WINDING SHEET MATERIAL AT CONSTANT SURFACE SPEED AND AT CON- STANT TENSION Theodore A. Dourdeville, Holden,

David Gessncr Company, ration of Massachusetts Application May 20, 1955, Serial No. 509,789 2 Claims. (Cl. 242-755) Mass., assignor to Worcester, Mass, a corpothe diameter of the roll of sheet material increases.

It is the general object of my invention to provide extremely simple and reliable mechanism for accomplishing a winding operation at such constant speed and tension. Such maintenance of constant speed and tension automatically consumes substantially constant power and permits the use of a relatively smaller driving motor.

I have also provided speed-varying mechanism of a simple and improved construction, and I maintain constant surface speed by merely adjusting a vent opening in a control device employing air under regulated pressure in its operation.

My invention further relates to arrangements and combinations of parts which will be hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

A preferred form of the invention is shown in the drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view showing the general operation of my improved apparatus;

Fig. 2 is a partial left-hand elevation on an enlarged scale and looking in the direction of the arrow 2 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a partial right-hand elevation, also on an enlarged scale, and looking in the direction of the arrow 3 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional front elevation of certain parts of the speed-control mechanism; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional front elevation of certain other and associated parts.

Referring to Fig. l, I have shown a roll or arbor R on which sheet material such as cloth or other fabric is to be wound. As previously stated, the general object of this invention is to provide apparatus by which the sheet material may be wound at substantially constant surface speed and at substantially constant tension.

The roll R (Fig. 1) is mounted on a shaft connected by gears 11 and 12 to a countershaft 14, which in turn is connected by a gear 15 and a pinion 16 to a shaft 17 on which the upper unit A of a speed-changing device is mounted. The lower unit B of the device is mounted on the armature shaft 20 of a driving motor M.

The speed-changing units A and B are connected by a V-belt 22, and the speed is varied by inversely adjusting the driving discs axially. This adjustment is determined by the air pressure in a rotating chamber C, and this air pressure is controlled by varying the leakage in a vent valve 30.

The stator S (Fig. 2) of the motor M has a hub portion 32 firmly secured to a resilient ring 33, which in turn is clamped in a fixed supporting frame 34, as by binding screws 35. With this construction, the stator is held from rotation but is capable of slight angular yielding movement in response to changes in load on the motor M.

An arm 40 is fixed to the stator S, and an adjusting screw 42 is threaded into the end of the arm 40 and 2,823,872 Patented Feb. 18, 1958 ICC is provided with a lock-nut 43. A valve-closing member 44 is mounted on the end of the screw 42 and is movable toward or away from a vent nipple 50in the vent valve 30. An offset arm 46 is connected to a fixed frame F by a dashpot device 48.

The speed-control unit B (Fig. 4) is mounted to rotate with the armature shaft 20 of the motor M, and comprises a conical disc 60 fixed to the shaft 20, and a similar disc 61 slidable on the hub 62 of the disc 60. The disc 61 also has an extended hub 64, to the end of which the center portion of a flexible diaphragm 66 is secured. The diaphragm 66 is also secured at its edge portion to a rigid casing 68 mounted on an extension of the shaft 20 and rotatable therewith.

Air is conducted to the chamber C through a pipe 70 (Fig. 1) which is threaded into a sleeve or bushing 73. This bushing is non-rotatable and is loose on a shaft extension 71.

It will be evident that the application of pressure in the chamber C will cause the disc 61 to approach the disc 60, thus increasing the effective diameter of the speed-control unit B.

The upper speed-control unit A, as shown in Fig. 5, comprises a conical disc fixed to the pinion shaft 17 previously described. A disc 81 is mounted adjacent the disc 80 and is slidable on the hub 82 of said disc. The disc 81 has an outwardly-projecting hub 84 on which a coil spring 85 is mounted. The outer end of the spring 85 is seated against a collar 86 secured to the end of the hub 82 which rotates with the shaft 17.

If the unit B is adjusted by increase of pressure in the chamber C to increase the effective diameter of the unit B, the belt 22 will be drawn inward with respect to the shaft 17 of the unit A and will thus reduce the effective diameter of said unit, the net result being an increase in the speed of the roll R. Correspondingly, if the pressure in the chamber C is decreased, the spring 85 in the unit A will overcome the pressure in the chamber C and will increase the effective diameter of the unit A and correspondingly decrease the effective diameter of the unit B, thus decreasing the speed of the roll R for the same speed of the motor M, which is maintained substantially constant.

The vent valve 30 has an inlet pipe 90 connected to an air supply line 91 through a pressure-regulating valve 92. The vent valve 30 also has an outlet pipe 94 which may be connected through a three-way valve 95 to the pipe '70 previously described. The pipe 70 may also be connected through the valve 95 to the air-supply pipe 91. A restrictive flow device 97 may be provided in the pipe 90.

Having described the details of construction of my improved apparatus, the operation thereof is believed to be quite readily apparent.

When starting up the machine, the three-way valve 95 is shifted from the position shown in Fig. l to provide full air pressure in the chamber C, thus compressing the driving unit B with corresponding expansion of the unit A and with increase in winding speed.

As soon as the winding apparatus is in full operation, the valve 95 is returned 180 to the position shown in Fig. 1, and the speed-control apparatus thereafter functions.

The air pressure in the chamber C is thereafter responsive to the vent-leakage of the vent valve 30. If the vent passage from the nipple 50 is increased, the air pressure in the vent valve 30 will be decreased, and the spring 85 will overcome the pressure chamber C, with a decrease in speed of the winding roll.

It will be noted that the venting of the vent nipple 50 is determined by the movement of the valve seat member 44 supported on the arm 40 which is fixed to the stator S.

3 If the motor attempts to wind the cloth too rapidly against constant tension, the load on the motor will increase and the stator will be shifted clockwise, thus opening the venting nipple S0 of the vent valve 30 and decreasing the pressure in the chamber C, which in turn will reduce the speed of the roll R as previously described.

It on the other hand the winding speed is reduced with constant tension, the load on the motor M is correspondingly reduced and the stator shifts anti-clockwise to decrease the opening of the vent nipple 50 and thus cause the pressure in the chamber C to increase and to overcome the spring 85, with resulting increase in speed.

The restrictive flow device 97 tends to prevent rapid. fluctuations or hunting of the apparatus, and the dashpot 48 also tends to prevent too abrupt shifting of the stator S.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, 1 do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what I claim is:

1. In an apparatus for winding sheet material under substantially constant surface speed and tension and comprising a winding roll, a constant speed motor having a yieldingly mounted stator, and driving connections between said motor and roll, that improvement which comprises a fluid-controlled device in said connections for varying the speed ratio between said motor and said roll, and control means to continuously vary said speed ratio in inverse relation to the load on the motor by direct application of fluid pressure to said fluid-controlled device in said driving connections, and said control means comprising a device to supply a pressure-fluid to said fluid-controlled device, a restricted vent element in said supply device, and a load-responsive member movable to progressively close said vent element as the load on said motor shifts said stator.

2. A winding apparatus as set forth in claim 1, in which a manually adjustable vent-closing element is provided in said load-responsive member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,181,373 Kent Nov. 28, 1939 2,316,570 Dunham Apr. 13, 1943 2,346,868 Perry Apr. 18, 1944 2,555,162 Stanford May 29, 1951 2,660,069 Home et a1 Nov. 24, 1953 2,667,311 Packer et al. Jan. 26, 1954 

